KING: Black student in La. says he was forced out of class, denied lunch for having Odell Beckham-style hair

Jaylon Sewell, a student at Neville High School in Monroe, La., says he was forced out of class and denied lunch because of his hair. (Courtesy of The Sewell Family)

Jaylon Sewell is a good kid. Just 16 years old, he is an active leader in his local church, a good student, and manager for the football team at Neville High School in Monroe, Louisiana. Suddenly, he has found himself in a deeply unfamiliar place after deciding to live a little and dye the top of his hair blonde in an homage to Odell Beckham Jr., the standout wide receiver for the New York Giants.

Jaylon's family, in a formal complaint filed in November with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, alleged that the 16-year-old was discriminated against because he wasn't allowed to attend class with dyed hair — "when white students with dyed hair were allowed to attend class."

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Jaylon and more than 20 other black students at Neville High School have been repeatedly targeted and harassed by school administrators for their hairstyles — including the Odell Beckham style, other colored styles, braids, dreads, and even for hair deemed "too nappy" by administrators, his family said.

Additionally, his family alleged in the complaint that the school district retaliated against Jaylon by "suspending him, attempting to expel him, and barring him from participation on the NHS football team."

An investigation into the situation is open and ongoing.

Authorities with the school were not immediately available to comment Monday.

According to the Monroe City Schools dress code, "Hair styles, and hair dyed outlandish colors which cause a disruption to the educational process shall not be allowed."

The situation is not an anomaly. All over the country young black boys and girls are being told to change their hair or face suspension.

Heaven Wiggins, an honors student in AP courses at Lithia Springs High School outside of Atlanta, was placed in in-school suspension, her mother said, because of the color of her hair — a deep burgundy color that my own wife has in her hair right now. It's a conservative style done by black girls and women across the country.

A high school in Louisville, Kentucky banned natural black hairstyles and began threatening to suspend all students with dreads, braids, and twists — which made up a significant percentage of the styles young black girls had at the school. All four of my daughters currently have the very styles that were being targeted at this school.

So, as you could imagine, Jaylon's situation infuriated his mother, Bonnie Kirk, who says she looked at her phone after a long day at work to find a slew of missed calls from her son. It was not like him to call during the school day, and she was immediately alarmed. From the beginning of the school day, through lunch, until the end of the day, he had called her but been unable to reach her.

Jaylon, during morning announcements, was allegedly pulled from class along with more than a dozen of his classmates, each of them African-American — and says the students were told they would not be able to attend class until they either cut their hair or dyed it back to its natural color. For Jaylon and others, it was like an out-of-body experience. The hairstyles that they had were not even seen as radical in their own community, but were normal. Even the style recently popularized by Odell Beckham has been around for decades. It's not even seen as "punk" or "alternative" or as some form of rebellion, but an administrator, according to Jaylon, told them they "looked like thugs" and asked them if they were in gangs.

Some of the students who weren't able to reach their parents were not allowed to go home — but also could not attend class and were denied lunch, instead forced to sit in a public commons area outside of the school offices, the family said.

Jaylon Sewell’s family filed a formal complaint in November with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. (Courtesy of The Sewell Family)

When Jaylon's mother and other family members came to the school the next day with Jaylon, they say they were told again by the school staff that Jaylon would not be able to attend any classes until he cut his hair off or dyed it back to its natural color. Determined that her son would not miss a second day of classes, his mother says she sent him on to class anyway — only for her to receive new phone calls that he was being pulled out of his classes, yet again, because of his hairstyle. Demanding an explanation, Jaylon's mother was told by a school official that his hair color was causing a disruption in school.

"I told him Jaylon's hair was not causing a disruption to the educational process, but he was causing a disruption to Jaylon's educational process by denying him the right to attend classes," said Jaylon's mother, Bonnie.

Incensed that her son was missing class, she says she confronted Monroe City Schools Superintendent Dr. Brent Vidrine after seeing him in the hallway.

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"He asked me why would I let Jaylon dye his hair blonde," his mother said. "He told us that he won't be able to get a good job in corporate America with his hair that color. I told him I'm not concerned with him in corporate America yet. I'm concerned with where he is now. He's in high school and I would rather him experiment now instead of when he does make it to corporate America."

Jaylon was later allowed to again attend class — but he and his mother both said that he continues to face harassment from school officials.

This entire ordeal is absolutely ridiculous. I've said it before in other cases, but the family's allegations reveal black culture itself being targeted. This is akin to Native Americans being told to cut their hair and change their names to look and sound more like Europeans. Jaylon Sewell was not a disruption to the educational process of his school because of his hair — just as Heaven Wiggins was not a disruption to the educational process of hers. These children, and their families, have enough to worry about without having to fight for the very right for their children to attend class or have lunch.